An inquinal hernia, to be exact. That's a weak or torn spot in the abdomen wall about 2" to the north and left of my manhood. Have had alot of pain there for the last few months, but strangely, it only hurts when I'm onstage, especially when singing. Saw a hernia specialist yesterday who confirmed my suspicion.

He explained the procedure and showed me the mesh material that's used to repair the hole (sounds a bit like fixing a hole in drywall). I'm getting it done in about 3 weeks.

So- is there anyone here who has had that procedure who can fill me in on what to expect (pain level, recuperation timeframe, side effects, etc.)?

Z

theelusiveeightrop

10-31-2012, 07:16 AM

Had it done twice. left side both times. Mesh first time rolled up, and had to be replaced. Be ready for bruising in areas just don't want to be bruised. Pain afterwards is easily manageable. Outpatient procedure both times. Miss a week or less of work if done laparascopically. Good Luck. Prayers.

AussieChiefsFan

10-31-2012, 07:18 AM

Good luck with the procedure

cookster50

10-31-2012, 07:18 AM

In 50% of the surgeries, they have to remove the left nut. Just want you to be prepared for that possibility.

kepp

10-31-2012, 07:18 AM

I work with a guy who had that done. It didn't take him out of commission for long, if at all. He was back doing his crossfit in less than two weeks IIRC.

ZepSinger

10-31-2012, 07:19 AM

In 50% of the surgeries, they have to remove the left nut. Just want you to be prepared for that possibility.

I sincerely hope you're kidding...:eek:

R8RFAN

10-31-2012, 07:29 AM

Simple stuff nowadays... best of luck to you

crazycoffey

10-31-2012, 07:35 AM

Had it done twice. left side both times. Mesh first time rolled up, and had to be replaced. Be ready for bruising in areas just don't want to be bruised. Pain afterwards is easily manageable. Outpatient procedure both times. Miss a week or less of work if done laparascopically. Good Luck. Prayers.

almost the exact same story for me. Second was an army doctor who apparently doesn't believe in Laparoscopic surgery and instead wanted to leave me with a three inch scar.

Thing is, as you're probably not the same young man that recoups from this sort of thing easily, don't push too hard getting back to normal. Also, do start to at least try to increase stomach muscles, it will help prevent another from "popping" up.

seclark

10-31-2012, 07:39 AM

my twin sons each had the mesh repair thing done for hernias when they were just a few weeks old. they're over 30 now and never had any more issues.

only thing was their hernias were right in the old nutsack. whenever they'd get pissed and start crying, their beanbag would get all swolled up and stretch all the wrinkles out of it...kinda felt bad for the little bastards.
sec

58-4ever

10-31-2012, 07:41 AM

I had a hernia when I was a kid. It made my balls huge. I didn't want to get rid of it. I went in for surgery, and a day later I noticed that my balls were still huge. They had operated on the wrong side, but it turned out that I had a double hernia. I had to go in a week later for another surgery. I don't remember the pain being that bad. Then again, I had huge balls at the time.

the Talking Can

10-31-2012, 07:41 AM

my 70 yr old mom just had it done...spent one night in hospital, moving around no problem next day, minimal pain...

Old Dog

10-31-2012, 07:42 AM

I didn't think it was great, but congratulations, I guess.

Had one about six months ago. Done on Thursday, back to work on Monday. I did take a week off from working out at all, but probably didn't need to.

loochy

10-31-2012, 08:29 AM

My wife had a hernia fixed back when she was in high school. The mesh developed scar tissue and quite often the mesh kind of "gets stuck" until it finally rips free. It causes her a good deal of pain every now and then.

Kaylore

10-31-2012, 08:53 AM

I had an inquinal hernia about six years ago. Good news is the procedure is way easier these days. They'll put a patch in you that will prevent it occuring again, but cause some tenderness. It's not like old school where they stitched you up. I was sore all down there, including the balls region, for a four days. Sneezing and coughing as the scar tissue tore was rough. However you'll feel way better than you do now. Toward the end I was constantly putting pressure on the are where by intestines were shooting out of my stomach to aleve the pain.

Best of luck. It's not fun, but the surgery was easy and I was back at work after a week.

ZepSinger

12-12-2012, 04:17 PM

Bump for surgery results. Had my surgery on Monday afternoon at 2:30; was home by 6. Overall, not anywhere near as bad as I thought it'd be- an inquinal repair with mesh patch. Pretty much just stayed in bed from the time I got home till about an hour ago. Pain level never got over or 3 or 4; been taking a combination of Ibuprophen and hydrocodone, but have had no medication since 6 this morning. Been up walking, had dinner, and other than being fairly sore of course, I'm doing pretty darn good considering it's only been about 50 hours since being cut... :-)

EDIT: forgot to mention, the ballsack is fairly swollen and purple, but I understand that that's pretty common and subsides in a few days...

bevischief

12-12-2012, 04:20 PM

Bump for surgery results. Had my surgery on Monday afternoon at 2:30; was home by 6. Overall, not anywhere near as bad as I thought it'd be. Pretty much just stayed in bed from the time I got home till about an hour ago. Pain level never got over or 3 or 4; been taking a combination of Ibuprophen and hydrocodone, but have had no medication since 6 this morning. Been up walking, had dinner, and other than being fairly sore of course, I'm doing pretty darn good considering it's only been about 50 hours since being cut... :-)

EDIT: forgot to mention, the ballsack is fairly swollen and purple, but I understand that that's pretty common and subsides in a few days...

What?

Guru

12-12-2012, 04:20 PM

Join the club man. Go in for my surgery in 5 weeks.

bevischief

12-12-2012, 04:23 PM

Join the club man. Go in for my surgery in 5 weeks.

5 weeks? WTF? Why so long?

Hog Farmer

12-12-2012, 04:24 PM

In 50% of the surgeries, they have to remove the left nut. Just want you to be prepared for that possibility.

It's OK, In 50 % of surgeries they remove the right nut. You're left nut may stay .

ZepSinger

12-12-2012, 04:25 PM

What?

yep, happened to my brother too. Sounds like it's fairly common- some of the blood and fluids move down into the scrotum via the spermatic cord. Scary looking, but common according to my surgeon.

Guru

12-12-2012, 04:48 PM

5 weeks? WTF? Why so long?

Because I recently changed jobs and needed to wait until I had enough sick days to cover the time off. Fortunately, I am not in much pain at this time so the wait isn't really a big deal.

If this had come up back in June I would have had 9 weeks of sick time.

bevischief

12-12-2012, 04:58 PM

yep, happened to my brother too. Sounds like it's fairly common- some of the blood and fluids move down into the scrotum via the spermatic cord. Scary looking, but common according to my surgeon.

Good luck with all that. Just sounds weird that is all.

bevischief

12-12-2012, 04:59 PM

Because I recently changed jobs and needed to wait until I had enough sick days to cover the time off. Fortunately, I am not in much pain at this time so the wait isn't really a big deal.

If this had come up back in June I would have had 9 weeks of sick time.

Good luck.

Dayze

12-12-2012, 05:26 PM

I mow the lawn, so grandpas hyena don't act up

http://www.slantedscreen.com/images/abc_news.jpg

I'mAlwaysRight

12-12-2012, 05:39 PM

Glad it went well for you. I've had four (a right, then a deuce, then a left) between 1980 and 2001. A lot more manageable now then "back in the day". Black and purple junk is standard operating procedure (:)) Also, the mesh used to be for worst-case, I think now it's pretty much standard. Don't do any situps or squats for a few days!

mlyonsd

12-12-2012, 05:45 PM

The test for a good inquinal hernia surgery is while standing you can hold a girl up with just your junk, no hands or walls involved.